


Rebound

by xanderlike



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Learning to live again, Loss, Moving On, Wanted to post before YJ Season 3 AUs it, survivor's guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 14:10:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15932054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanderlike/pseuds/xanderlike
Summary: "He's not Wally. He'll never be Wally, but Kyle Rayner is a good guy. He doesn't deserve this. He doesn't deserve to be used like this. He doesn't deserve to be used by her. But she can't stop herself. Try as she might, she can't stop." Almost a year after losing Wally, Artemis meets someone new. Can he be anything other than the rebound guy?





	1. Chapter 1

She met him on a case. She was working undercover, jogging in the park to catch a super powered mugger who targeted young women. M'Gann, Raquel, Barbara, and Cassie had their own sectors to cover, and Dick was getting frustrated enough with the whole thing he was about ready to go out in disguise as a girl himself.

 

She had been running in the park all morning, and was hot and sweaty and a nearby ice cream stand was calling her name when she realized that she didn't have any money with her. She hit the water fountain instead, and when she finished her drink he was standing there with two ice cream cones.

 

"You look like you could use this."

 

He was kind of cute, she decided. Not too tall, not too short. Her age or a few years older. Black hair. Green eyes. Decent shape. Nice enough smile.

 

"My mother told me to never take candy from strangers." She's surprised by the flippant tone in her voice. She's had five guys already ask for her phone number this morning, but he's the first one to try the ice cream approach.

 

"It's ice cream. Doesn't even have sprinkles on it. No candy at all. So it's perfectly okay. And I'm Kyle. Kyle Rayner. So now we're not strangers anymore." He offers both cones. "Pick one. You know you wanna."

 

It's the smile that did the trick. She'd dressed to lure in a super powered pervert, but his eyes never left her face. She liked that. "What flavors do you have?"

 

"Chocolate and vanilla swirl. Or vanilla and chocolate swirl. Take your pick."

 

"What would you have done if I said I was a strawberry ice cream kind of girl?"

 

"Eaten two ice cream cones all by myself." He grinned at her.

 

"Well, we wouldn't want that." She took one of the ice cream cones from him. "Artemis."

 

"What?"

 

"That's my name." She had seen him two or three times this morning. He had a sketch pad, a blanket, and a book under a comfortable looking shade tree. He had looked at her, of course—but she had expected that. That was the whole point of being bait.

 

"Hi, Artemis. Nice to meet you."

 

There was no sign he recognized her name or face. Not really that surprising. She had been semi-retired for several years before Dick had talked her into going into the field to help Kaldur.

 

They chatted a little bit about the weather and what they do. He's a college student too, working on a graphic artist degree. His family still lives in California.

 

It was … different.

 

It had been almost a year since she lost Wally. Since they _all_ lost Wally. The others … the others didn't seem to know how to react to her anymore. It had been Artemis and Wally so long that they didn't seem to know how to react to Artemis without the "And Wally."

 

Her presence seemed to put a damper on their conversation, their actions. Laughter would stop as though it were somehow disrespectful of Wally, of her, for them to find something in life to laugh about. Couples would pull apart if she walked in on them as though it was cruel to subject her to their happiness, their love …

 

She had come back because she didn't want to be alone with her memories, alone with her grief, but she felt even more isolated with the team than without it.

 

Now … now she's talking to a stranger, and she's suddenly not _that_ girl any longer. She's not Wally West's almost-widow. She's not being looked at with pity and sympathy.

 

She's not being defined by tragedy for the first time since she lost Wally.

 

It had been so long that she had forgotten what that felt like.

 

_Artemis, it's M'Gann. Nothing here. Anything on your end?_

 

She sighed and finished her ice cream cone. _Not yet. I just took a break. I'll get back on it._ "Thanks for the ice cream, but I have to get back to—jogging."

 

"Okay. Here. I have something for you." He tore off a piece of paper from his sketch pad and handed it to her.

 

It was a half-finished picture of her. She was impressed. "It's not done."

 

"No. But if you bring it back with your next Saturday I'll finish it. And if you want to get together before that—maybe for dinner or a movie—that's my phone number at the bottom." He smiled hopefully at her.

 

In spite of herself, she had smiled back. "You're a sneaky man, Kyle Rayner."

 

"Hey, a guy's gotta make the effort."

 

She looked over at him. "Why? Because you think I'm pretty?"

 

She wanted him to tell her she was pretty. She didn't quite know why, but she wanted him to say it.

 

"Pretty, hell. I think you're _beautiful_. You're also smart, funny, and I'd like to get to know you better."

 

She blushed at that. "Thanks. I tend to travel a lot so I can't guarantee I'll be around anytime soon, but I think I'd like to get to know you too."

 

"All right. That's all a guy can hope for. Nice meeting you, Artemis. Hope to see you again."

 

She didn't want to go, but she forced herself. Carefully tucking the picture into a pocket, she jogged down the sidewalk. When she glanced back, he was still watching her.

 

"Men," she laughed and waved at him.

 

He waved back.

 

And for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel quite so lonely.


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

 

The good news was that whatever the mugger wanted from the girls he attacked it wasn't sexual. None of them were physically assaulted in any way though they did seem to have "missing time" syndrome … a memory loss so complete that not even M'Gann could overcome it. They would wake up in some public place without their cash and a splitting headache … and no sign of physical trauma.

 

The lack of permanent injury to the girls had led to the case being relatively low priority for the League. With the Joker loose in Gotham and an alien invasion in Metropolis, the League had little time to spare for mere robbery.

 

Still, Dick had not been willing to drop the case. His sense of justice didn't allow him to leave a case like this unsolved. And something about it just felt … wrong.

 

Artemis agreed. It was why she had continued to visit the park when M'Gann and the other girls had been pulled off to help with the other crises. Gotham wasn't her city—not like it was Barbara's—and it wasn't like there was a lot she could do against an invasion of giant insects that Cassie, M'Gann, and Raquel couldn't do better … She could do more good looking for the mugger … at least that's what she told the others when they asked her why she wanted to keep on the case.

 

The fact that she spent at least as much time looking for a certain green eyed artist as keeping an eye out for the mugger was something that she didn't like to think about.

 

She carried his picture every day … on the off chance she would catch him in the park on a weekday. She would stop at the ice cream vendor and have a cone and then think about texting the number he had given her.

 

She wanted to. She didn't want to.

 

It was a bad idea. It was a tempting thought.

 

She didn't know him. She wanted to know him.

 

She didn't belong in his world. She wasn't a normal girl. She wanted to know what it was like to be a normal girl.

 

He wasn't Wally. He would never be Wally. But … but Wally was gone.

 

She wasn't.

 

Even though she ached when she thought of Wally, she was still alive.

 

And somehow Kyle Rayner had reminded her of that …

 

She had his number. She could call him and let him know that she wanted to see him again. She could let him know that she wanted to talk to him … but somehow … somehow she couldn't quite find the will to do so.

 

Somehow … somehow running into him again would feel … _okay._ She wasn't making it happen. She wasn't … _betraying?_... Wally that way.

 

But to _call_ him …

 

No.

 

She couldn't do that. She _wouldn't_ do that.

 

She finished her ice cream cone and sighed. No Kyle.

 

"You know, I could use one of those myself."

 

"Kyle?" She spun around and knew that she was smiling … smiling in a way that she hadn't since she had last spoken with him.

 

"Hi, Artemis." He was there—finally, he was there. He was wearing a pair of black shorts and a green tank top. There were dark circles around his eyes.

 

"You look tired," she told him.

 

"You look gorgeous."

 

"I bet you say that to all the girls who're handing you an ice cream cone."

 

"Only when it's true. Only when it's true." He closed his eyes as he took a lick. "Man, that tastes good. I've been … out of town the last few days. Working long hours … first chance I've had to relax since the—well, it's been a busy week."

 

"Yeah. I know what you mean." She ran a hand through her hair. "Been that way for me too."

 

"I don't suppose you have that picture with you?" He grinned as he finished his cone. "I haven't had a chance to just sit back and draw for fun since I last saw you."

 

"Yeah. I have it." She was almost unable to tell him she had it. It was an admission she had wanted to see him again … and she's wasn't sure she should confess that yet… She was almost shy as she offered it to him … and she was acutely aware of the warmth of his fingers as they brushed against hers …

 

It had been so _long_ since she had been touched …

 

He sat down on a bench and gestured for her to sit down against a tree. He laid the piece of paper against his sketch pad and pulled out his pencil. He bit his lip and narrowed his eyes as he began working.

 

There was a peaceful silence between them as he drew and she watched. It wasn't like the quiet between her and her friends now—this was a silence that _included_ her. "You're very good."

 

"Thank you." He stopped and looked at her and the picture again. "Hm. I think it's done." He grinned at her. "So do I have to find an excuse to draw another picture or can I talk you into going out for dinner with me tonight?"

 

"Tonight?" She rose to her feet.

 

"Yeah. If you're not busy, that is. If you are …" He shrugged. "Then I'm going to have to ask you for your number so I can try to catch you at another time. Unless you're totally not interested in which case I won't make a pest out of myself."

 

She wanted to tell him that she wasn't interested. That it was too soon for her. That it wasn't a good idea … "Dinner sounds fine. Nothing fancy, though."

 

"Hey—college student here. I was thinking a burger and fries and maybe a movie. That sound good to you?"

 

"Sure." She was sure her heart was beating so loud that Conner would hear it all the way over in Metropolis. "That sounds fine. Mind if I pick the place?"

 

She didn't want a place she might run into someone she knew. She didn't want a place she had been to with Wally.

 

"Sure. That's fine with me." He paused and then blushed slightly. "Um, I don't actually have a car…"

 

"That's all right. I've got wheels." She didn't tell him yet what her wheels were.

 

"Good to hear." He rose up and stretched his legs. "So, want to jog with me a ways?"

 

"Sure." She smirked at him. "Are you going to go easy on me because I'm a girl?"

 

"God, no." His lips twitched into a smile. "I've seen you run, remember? I'm just hoping that I can keep you in sight."

 

"You want a head start?"

 

"What? You think I'm totally without masculine pride? I'm wounded, my dear. Terribly wounded… look! Isn't that Batman?!"

 

She whipped her head around to look. "Here? Now? Where?!"

 

She heard a laugh and saw that Kyle was almost out of sight already, running as though his life depended on it.

 

For a second, she stood stunned, and then, grinning wildly, she took after him.


	3. Chapter 3

She'd thought about calling him to cancel half a dozen times … even right until the moment she got on her bike. (It looked like an ordinary motorcycle, but the tech involved was closer to Star Wars than Harley Davidson. It was a gift from the team to welcome her back even though most of the time she had no reason to use it. Gifts are sometimes easier when there are no words.) She thought about cancelling, but she didn't.

 

She bought all new clothing for the … _don't call it a date_ … movie. A pair of jeans, a jeans jacket, and a cutoff shirt – not too fancy, but something that showed off her figure. She wanted something new… somehow she couldn't see her wearing something that she had worn with _Wally …_

 

She met him at a bus stop. "Going my way?"

 

He wore a green Polo Shirt and a pair of black slacks that showed he did more than sit under trees drawing pretty girls all day. "If there is a God, yes."

 

She laughed. "There's a helmet in the luggage case."

 

He fumbled with the helmet—enough to let her know that he's never ridden before—and she watched him with a trace of amusement on her face as he finally gets on behind her and puts his arms around her. "Am I holding on too tight?"

 

"Tighter," she whispered. "I mean, you can hang on tighter than that. I wouldn't want you to fall off when I make a turn."

 

He gripped her just a little bit tighter. "Should I be worried?"

 

She laughed in response. _Don't think about how good it feels to have someone touch you again that isn't trying to kill you … Just don't._ "Trust me."

 

"With my life." There was something about the way he said it—with a complete lack of humor—that took her breath away.

 

"You like to live dangerously, Kyle." She was warning him, giving him a chance to back out while he could.

 

"Some things—some people—are worth the risk."

 

In response, she gunned the engine and they roared off down the street.

 

They saw the movie first.

 

It was the latest Avengers movie— _Wally had wanted to see it so badly_ —and she had tried to think of a way to explain to Kyle why she'd rather not see it—a way that wouldn't require her to talk about Wally—but something about his excitement made her change her mind. As the two of them sat in the theater, watching the movie, sharing popcorn, she's struck by a sudden thought:

 

_Kyle and Wally would have made great friends._

 

Kyle is nothing like Wally in looks or temperament. But something about the way he watched the movie, the way he would absentmindedly eat popcorn right out of her hands— the way he mouths the heroes' catchphrases right when they say them— leaves her thinking of the dozens of times Wally had done the same thing.

 

_He's not Wally. He'll never be Wally. He's a good guy, but he'll never be Wally. Don't do this to him. Don't hurt him …_

 

The restaurant is just a burger joint. Not a franchise, but a privately owned place with some of the best hamburgers she's ever tasted. She'd eaten her as a kid—her father would take the family here on rare occasions—when she had done well in her training—after they visited Mom when she was in prison—and it's one of the few good memories she has of her childhood.

 

She had never taken Wally here. She had meant to, but the time had never been right … and now she never would …

 

"Artemis? Are you okay?"

 

She wasn't okay. She didn't think she would ever be okay again. This was a mistake. She shouldn't have done this … "I'm fine …"

 

"You don't look it." He reached out and took one of her hands in his. She noticed again the strange ring he wore—a large emerald set in a strange green metal band that looked familiar somehow. "Should we call it a night?"

 

"I'm sorry. I think that's probably a good idea…" It wasn't fair to him, but she can't stay here. She can't be here with someone who isn't Wally…

 

"Okay. Let's go then." There was no anger in his response, no accusation. He just seemed worried about her welfare.

 

They get back on her bike and she started to drive him back to the bus stop …

 

_I owe him better than this. I owe him answers._

 

"Hang on, Kyle. I want to take you somewhere to talk."

 

There's a mountain highway with a turnoff. It has a perfect view of what used to be Mount Justice. She pulled off the road and took off her helmet.

 

"Kyle, I need to explain…"

 

"You don't owe me any explanations, Artemis."

 

"No. I do." She reached out and touched his cheek.

 

_Warm. Alive … Not a memory._ _**Real.** _

 

"Kyle, there's nothing wrong with you. You didn't do anything wrong. I … there was a…" _Coward. Say it. You owe it to both of them …_

 

"It's okay, Artemis. It's okay …"

 

_He's not Wally. But he's here. He's here, and Wally isn't. Wally never will be …_

 

She wanted to talk, but the words wouldn't come. She wanted to tell him, but she couldn't. She couldn't become _that girl_ again … not to Kyle.

 

"Kyle …"

 

_He's here …_

 

And she pulled his mouth down to hers and kissed him until the pain went away …

 


	4. Chapter 4

She's had so many secrets in her life, and Kyle's become another one in her collection. The father she didn't talk about. The mother whose past she mentioned to no one. The sister she periodically fights and then babysits for.

 

And now there's Kyle.

 

Kyle is hard to define. Kyle is ice cream and green eyes and warm lips. Kyle is laughter and goofy movies and too-salty popcorn. Kyle is stolen kisses and moments where she's not invisible and not chained to the ghost of the man she expected to spend her life with.

 

Kyle is the secret she's kept from everyone else.

 

Kyle is the reason she lies to her friends. Kyle is the reason she begs off from her friends well-meaning attempts to draw her deeper back into the Team. Kyle is the answer to the darkness that threatens to overwhelm her when she thinks of all that she's lost, all that she will never have again.

 

Kyle is her … boyfriend?

 

Her mind dances around the thought, trying to avoid it, yet drawn to it like a loose tooth. She doesn't want to forget Wally—she _never_ wants to forget Wally—but she doesn't want to live her life trapped in amber where she's defined by the man she used to be with, the man she will never be with again.

 

But moving on feels like a betrayal … a betrayal of Wally, a betrayal of who the Team expects her to be … who she thought she'd be.

 

Being Kyle's girlfriend means she's no longer Wally's …

 

It means that she has moved on, left him behind …

 

And she can't do that. She _can't._

 

So she doesn't tell Kyle about her past. She doesn't tell him about Wally. She doesn't tell him about her friends or her real life. She offers him vague answers and evasions when she should be telling him everything.

 

It feels like she's betraying him too.

 

Kyle deserves better than this. She knows that. He deserves someone who can be honest with him. Someone who can give him all her heart instead of just a fragment.

 

She doesn't love him … that's what she tells herself. She doesn't love him because that's a betrayal of Wally. She doesn't love him because that means she's hurting someone she loves just to make herself feel better.

 

And yet, she can't stop.

 

The doubts and guilt and fear disappear when she's with him. When they're walking in the park and he's holding her hand it doesn't feel like a betrayal. When they're on her motorbike and riding on deserted mountain roads and his arms are wrapped around her like he's never going to let go it feels as _right_ as anything has ever been in her life.

 

And when she kisses him …

 

When she kisses him, she doesn't think of Wally at all.

 

When she kisses him, she can let herself feel _alive_ again…

 

It's only later … after Kyle is gone … only later when she's lying in in the bed she shared with Wally … it's only _then_ she feels like her heart is going to explode with shame and guilt.

 

How do you go on when the love of your life is gone so completely there's not even a body to bury? How do you let go when you grew up with the person who was so right for you that you never once considered the idea that there'd ever be someone else? How do you stop mourning the man who saved the world?

 

She is the Tigress, but she's trapped. She's trapped by the girl she had been, the woman she should have been, and the person she's been forced to become.

 

And she's pulled Kyle into the trap with her.

 

She hates herself for that. She hates herself for being weak enough to want him. She hates herself for using him. She hates herself for dragging a good man, a _normal_ man, into her world.

 

If she had never lost Wally, she never would have found Kyle.

 

And she hates herself most of all because sometimes— _sometimes_ —she lets herself be _happy …_


	5. Chapter 5

The League had thwarted the alien invasion and the Joker had been put away (for now). The mugger had struck twice since she had met Kyle, and she felt a stab of guilt that she had become so distracted by him that she hadn't given proper attention to her mission. And yet, when she had been playing her role as would-be victim, she had seen nothing out of the ordinary.

 

It made no sense.

 

She was here. There were police here. There were even cameras in much of the park. Why hadn't anyone seen anything? By now, there should have _something._ Why wasn't there any sort of physical evidence?

 

If there wasn't, why wasn't there?

 

Artemis frowned. She was no detective. Not like Dick. She had grown up learning how to take down an opponent twice her size, how to break into supposedly secure facilities … but this was a puzzle that she couldn't solve with a well-placed arrow or a precisely delivered kick. Dick would be able to solve this … she was sure of that … but she wanted to do it herself.

 

Where were the clues? What was the pattern?

 

"You know you're totally adorable when you scrunch your face up like that?"

 

"Scrunch?" She could not resist a smile as he handed her another ice cream cone. "You know, most guys would not use the word 'scrunch' when referring to their girlfriends…."

 

Kyle grinned at her. "I think that's the first time you've ever referred to yourself as being my girlfriend."

 

_Wally… I'm sorry …_

 

"Artemis? What's wrong?"

 

"Nothing." She reached up and kissed him quickly. "Nothing at all, Kyle. Finish your ice cream. I've been having these entirely too regularly. I need to run some of this off."

 

"Are you mad about something?"

 

"No. Of course not." She smiled at him. "Don't worry. The fact you called me adorable did help with the whole 'scrunch' thing. I'll still expect a foot rub when we get back to your place, though."

 

"I live to serve you."

 

"Yes. Yes you do. And don't forget it." She kissed him again … longer this time … and then started running.

 

_Wally_ …

 

She had called herself Kyle's girlfriend … and even now, try as she might … she could not deny that it was true. Wally was gone, and he was not coming back. She was with Kyle now. She wasn't Wally's girlfriend any longer.

 

She was Kyle's.

 

It hurt.

 

She had tried to hang onto Wally … to hang onto the life they had shared and had wanted to share. She had tried to be faithful.

 

But she couldn't.

 

Kyle had found his way into her heart.

 

She still loved Wally. She would always love Wally. A part of her would always miss him.

 

But she loved Kyle, too.

 

She had never told him. She did not know if she had the strength now to tell him—did not know if she had the right to tell him—but there was no denying what she felt now.

 

She would have to tell him about Wally.

 

She would have to tell him everything.

 

She did not know how he would react to the truth.

 

He was a normal man with a normal life. How could she expect him to understand her need to wear a costume and fight evil? How could he possibly understand her complicated relationship with her parents and her sister? She would be asking so much of him…

 

But she had no choice.

 

If they were going to be something … if there was going to be more than ice cream and casual flirting between them … if he was to be a part of her life … he would have to know what he was getting into.

 

She was not sure what she would do if she lost him.

 

She was not sure what she would do if she didn't.

 

So she ran.

 

But she knew he would come after her. That thought warmed her even as it terrified her.

 

And all of a sudden, she found herself unable to move at all. She was frozen in mid-stride, like a fly trapped in amber.

 

There were some … creatures … surrounding her. They were perhaps four feet tall, nude and hairless, with large black eyes and oversized heads. One of them was holding some metallic device in his hands and was pointing it at her. Another had a different looking device with a pointed end that filled her with dread.

 

The air seemed to shimmer like a mirage around her. She could see other people moving about, jogging nearby – and then _through_ her—but they seemed totally unaware of their presence.

 

And then … as though from a great distance, she heard Kyle calling her name…

 

He was running down the path, calling her name, trying to find her.

 

But he wouldn't find her, she knew. He couldn't.

 

She had found the muggers … and when they were done with her—assuming they treated her as they had the others—she would remember nothing of what was done to her.

 

And if they did not treat her as they had the others, no one would ever know what happened to her …

 

"Artemis! Artemis!" Kyle was looking worried now.

 

_I'm here, Kyle. M'Gann? Can you hear me, M'Gann?!_

 

But she heard nothing from her Martian friend.

 

"Artemis!"

 

Kyle looked right and left again … this time it was as if he was making sure that no one else was coming. He was rubbing the ring on his finger … a ring that she suddenly noticed was emitting a soft green light.

 

_No …_

 

She couldn't have been that blind. She could not have failed to see something like that. No … it couldn't be.

 

Kyle raised his hand and his green glowing ring … and he removed all doubt by his next words … "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might … beware my power – Green Lantern's light!"

 

And a blaze of green light transformed his clothing into the uniform of a Green Lantern … and that selfsame burst of light also shattered the barrier between the world Artemis now found herself in and the one that Kyle stood in.

 

She was knocked free of her imprisonment … knocked off her feet… knocked back into the real world …

 

Along with her would-be kidnappers.

 

They raised their weapons and pointed them at Green Lantern … at _Kyle._

 

And she was on her feet and then she was on them… knocking the weapons from their hands and then consciousness from their bodies.

 

And Kyle was looking at her with a mixture of relief, amazement and guilt.

 

"Artemis, I have something to tell you …"


	6. Chapter 6

Kyle- _Green Lantern_ \- gave the report to the Justice League. She was there with him to add her own report. Her Team was there with her because they were her friends.

 

"The Zeta Reticulans are genetic scavengers. They evolve by adding the DNA of other species to their own. They aren't really capable of an invasion, but their assaults can be traumatic to their victims."

 

M'Gann was watching her. They were all watching her, but M'Gann seemed the most concerned about her. The Martian's eyes would dart to her face and then back to Kyle and then back again.

 

She was angry. She was sad. She felt betrayed. She felt humiliated as though it were all some sort of sick joke that had been played on her. She hadn't said a word to him as he rounded up the aliens.

 

"Tigress," Batman said softly. "Do you have anything else you wish to add?" He knew her. He had known her since she was a teenager. He had known Wally even longer. Was he disappointed in her- did he even _know_ what had been going on?

 

"No. _Green Lantern_ did an excellent job. I'll submit a written report later." Her eyes flickered toward Kyle's face. "It was nice working with you, GL. Maybe we'll meet again some day."

 

And she turned and walked away.

 

He looked at her … and his mask could not disguise his look of surprise and pain. It twisted in her gut- it almost made her want to stay.

 

Almost.

 

"Artemis."

 

"M'Gann." Had she been expecting Kyle to follow her? Had she been _hoping_ he would follow her? "Do you need something?"

 

"I don't have to be a telepath to see that there's something going on between the two of you."

 

"There was."

 

"Judging by the look on his face, I think there still is."

 

"He lied to me."

 

"Lied to you? How?"

 

"He didn't tell me who he was. He didn't tell me _what_ he was." She knew it was unfair to feel like this, but she couldn't help it.

 

"Did you tell him who you were?"

 

"No."

 

"I see." M'Gann paused. "It's almost funny, isn't it? That the two of you would wind up working on a case together without telling each other your secrets."

 

"There was more to us than the case. At least I thought there was." She doesn't want to have this conversation, but she doesn't want to avoid it either. She needs to talk about it- she needs someone to _understand._

 

"Talk to me, Artemis. Tell me."

 

"You could just read my mind."

 

"No. I can't. Not for this. I've learned my lesson, Artemis. Talk to me." M'Gann took one of her hands and led her to a bench in the League observation deck.

 

The words didn't come easily, but they came nevertheless. She talked about Green Lantern- about _Kyle._ About what he had come to mean to her- what she had _thought_ he had meant to her. She talked about that moment when she realized who he was- that he was as much a part of this world as Wally had ever been … as _she_ was. "I feel like an idiot."

 

"Because you fell in love again?"

 

She flinched. "I thought I had. I thought that I had someone else- someone who wasn't like Wally. Someone different. Someone that it would be safe to love ..."

 

"Did you feel safe loving him, Artemis?" M'Gann touched her cheek. "I've felt your anguish. I thought it was just sorrow over Wally. So much pain … but love too. And joy. I was happy for you, Artemis. We all were."

 

"You knew? You all knew?"

 

"Robin- Nightwing- might have guessed, but I doubt that Conner or Kaldur knew. Boys don't tend to pick up on such things. They just knew that sometimes you smiled."

 

"They'd never understand. Wally-" She closed her eyes. "Wally was their friend."

 

"You're their friend too. Maybe you should have faith in them- and Green Lantern."

 

"Kyle. His name is Kyle." She closed her eyes. "Unless he was lying to me about that too."

 

"I've never lied to you, Artemis." He hovered in mid-air, his ring glowing with green light.

 

"I'll … just go for a walk. Just call for me mentally if you need me, Artemis." M'Gann squeezed her hand once more and then walked away.

 

"I never lied to you," Green Lantern repeated after M'Gann left. The ghost of a smile touched his lips. "I never told you I _wasn't_ Green Lantern, did I?"

 

She snorted.

 

"I was going to, you know."

 

"Right. And exactly when was that going to be?"

 

"Once this was over." He shrugged. "I'm still new at this. At being a Green Lantern. At being part of the Justice League." He took his mask off. "I think that's pretty obvious. I didn't have a clue who you were."

 

She didn't remove her own. Neither of them. "The League didn't tell you?"

 

"Maybe they would have if I had mentioned you." He shrugged. "I wanted to keep you to myself." His ring flashed and he was no longer wearing his uniform. He was Kyle Rayner again. He held his hand up. "I was just a normal guy until a Guardian literally tossed this ring to me and said, 'You'll do.'" He shrugged. "It's a long story."

 

The ghost of a smile touched her lips. "They usually are in this line of work."

 

He looked at her. "Maybe I could tell you about it over dinner-?"

 

"No."

 

"All right then." He sighed and then turned to leave.

 

"Not dinner. Ice cream." And she took her masks off- both of them. "We can talk about it over ice cream. You're buying."

 

His smile was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. "Don't I always?"

 

She found herself laughing. "Yes. You always do ..."

 

And for the first time in a long while, she felt … whole.


End file.
